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Witchcraft In The Witches

1101 Words5 Pages
Throughout the early modern period, the belief of witchcraft was growing exponentially (Parish, Helen. Class Discussion). During this period women were the predominately accused in witchcraft cases. There were many different reasons why women were blamed for being witches during this time period and these reasons range from not being a good mother, widowed, a bad wife, or even hair color (Parish, Helen. Class Discussion). The madness that witchcraft was a problem came together when society combined the story of Adam and Eve (women acting out in abnormal ways and easily being convinced to do things), with the desire of wanting all women to act as the Virgin Mary. This created an unrealistic ideology of standards of daily conduct and if those standards were not adhered to they would be accused of practicing witchcraft (Broedel, Hans Peter. The Malleus Maleficarum and the Construction of Witchcraft), (Parish, Helen. Class Discussion). Thus, begins the belief that women being disobedient are having a relationship with the devil (Parish, Helen. Class Discussion). “Witch-hunting is woman-hunting or at least it is the hunting of women who do not fulfill the male view of how women ought to conduct themselves” (Blécourt, William de, The Making of the Female Witch, Pg. 294). The story of Adam and Eve is a main theory that is shown through the work of many authors because Eve is perceived as unleashing evil to the world. The reasoning behind this is in the story, Eve is
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